Mister Roberts (1955 film)

Mister Roberts
Theatrical poster by Bill Gold
Directed by	John Ford Mervyn LeRoy
Produced by	Leland Hayward
Written by	Frank S. Nugent Joshua Logan (Play) Thomas Heggen (Novel, Play)
Starring	Henry Fonda James Cagney William Powell Jack Lemmon
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	Winton C. Hoch
Editing by	Jack Murray
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 30, 1955 (1955-07-30)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Mister Roberts is a 1955 CinemaScope comedy-drama film directed by John Ford^[1] and Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts. Based on the 1946 novel and 1948 Broadway play, the film was nominated for the Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording (William A. Mueller) Oscars; Jack Lemmon received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[2]

Plot

The film takes place on an American Naval cargo ship the, USS Reluctant, during the waning days of World War II. The ship’s captain, Lieutenant Commander Morton (James Cagney), is proud of his spotless record supplying the U.S. fleet. His command style is heavy-handed: he refuses to let the crew remove their shirts during hot days working in the cargo hold and has not granted his men ”liberty” for at least two years, despite frequent requests by his executive officer, Lieutenant Douglas Roberts (Henry Fonda). Roberts has an excellent relationship with the crew, often bending the rules to allow them some leeway. For Morton’s reputation for timely handling of cargo, an impressed admiral gave him a palm tree, which he cherishes and keeps in a dirt-filled bucket near the ship’s bridge. However, the crew despises the tree and the captain himself and it is widely known by the crew that Roberts, not Morton, is primarily responsible for the ship's efficiency.

Roberts, despite his positive outlook, has grown tired of his dull duties and has repeatedly requested transfer to a unit on the front lines of the Pacific theatre. Morton has turned down every request.

Roberts shares quarters with Ensign Frank Pulver (Jack Lemmon), in charge of laundry and morale, a lazy, self-serving, and cowardly junior officer. Pulver is intimidated by Morton and avoids the captain so much that, even after nearly a year on board, Morton doesn't know what Pulver looks like.

Roberts bypasses the chain of command to request crew liberty from one of Morton’s superiors. Liberty is granted and the ship sails to a South Pacific island, but Morton denies the crew their small vacation. Morton shows Roberts a Commander's hat with the scrambled eggs (gold braids) on the visor. Morton feels that if the ship continues to set cargo records the admiral will give Morton a promotion to Commander. He tells Roberts he will allow liberty for the crew as long as he agrees not to write any more letters to Command regarding disharmony aboard the ship.

A heated exchange results, with Roberts calling Morton ignorant, arrogant and ambitious; a man whose success is based on other men's hard work. Roberts has had enough and ask for a court martial to finally be able to leave, but Morton relents. Morton reveals that he endured a tough childhood as a busboy, constantly bullied by those of higher social status during his time on passenger ships in the Merchant Marine, especially people who were college-educated like Roberts and thus has a deep personal hatred of "college boys" (Roberts left medical school to enter the Navy). The captain knows the ship's reputation for success is due to Roberts and not himself, and he is determined to keep Roberts on board by fair means or foul. Morton grants the crew their liberty on the conditions that Roberts not request transfer ever again and that he will deal much more firmly with the crew. Roberts reluctantly acquiesces for the sake of the crew's liberty.

On the island, the ship’s crew acts deplorably: they quickly get drunk, start fights, violently crash a party at the local embassy and are often hauled back to the ship by the Army's military police. One sailor steals a motorcycle and the ship’s secretary, Dolan (Ken Curtis), steals a Navy Goat belonging to Admiral Wentworth, USN. Eventually, a large unit of the Navy's shore patrol arrives and surrounds the ship, preventing any of the crew from going ashore. The next morning, Morton returns to the ship from a dressing-down by the port admiral. Morton boards the ship yelling about having been told to leave port immediately.

The men of the ship are mystified by Roberts' new strict attitude. Morton falsely hints to them that Roberts is interested in a promotion. When a crew member informs Roberts of a new Navy policy which might assist him in getting a transfer despite the captain's opposition, Roberts responds sharply and refuses to take advantage of it. Roberts' friendly rapport with the crew is affected.

News of the Allied victory in Europe arrives and Roberts becomes further depressed, knowing the war may end soon without him seeing any combat. His mood breaks soon after, having been inspired by a radio speech. He takes the captain’s palm tree and throws it overboard. Morton, unable to determine who did it, orders the crew to battle stations. He eventually realizes that Roberts is the only person who would have the nerve. He summons Roberts to his quarters and begins accusing him, but Roberts calmly denies any involment, which only serves to make Morton more angry, resulting in Morton becoming ill. (It is implied that Morton vomits from the stress). Because a microphone has been left open during the confrontation, the crew overhears the conversation and learns the truth.

Several weeks later, Roberts receives a transfer, even though he had kept his bargain with the captain and not requested one. The ship's doctor confides to Roberts that the crew had risked court-martial by submitting a forged transfer request. Before Roberts leaves, the crew made him a medal, Order of the Palm, for "action against the enemy".

Several weeks later, Ensign Pulver, who has taken Roberts' place as cargo chief, receives a pair of letters. One is from Roberts himself who speaks enthusiastically about his new assignment on the front lines near Okinawa, and respect for the men on the Reluctant for refusing to surrender to a force as deadly as combat: boredom. He goes on saying that he is looking at the medal and would rather have it than the Medal of Honor. The second letter, from "Forenel" a friend of Pulver’s on the destroyer, USS Livingston, the same ship as Mr. Roberts, informs him that Roberts was killed in combat. "A Japanese kamikaze hits a 40mm battery and goes through into the wardroom, Doug was getting a cup of coffee."

A furious and emboldened Pulver throws the captain’s second palm tree overboard and marches into Morton’s cabin, angrily demanding to know why Morton has cancelled the showing of a film that night. Morton realizes things will be just as tough with Pulver as they were with Roberts.

Cast

Cast	Character
Henry Fonda	Lt. (j.g.) Douglas A. 'Doug' Roberts
James Cagney	Captain Morton
William Powell	Lieutenant 'Doc'
Jack Lemmon	Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver
Betsy Palmer	Lt. Ann Girard
Ward Bond	Chief Boatswain's Mate Dowdy
Philip Carey	Mannion (billed as Phil Carey)
Nick Adams	Seaman Reber
Perry Lopez	Seaman Rodrigues
Ken Curtis	Yeoman 3rd Class Dolan
Robert Roark	Insignia
Harry Carey, Jr.	Stefanowski
Patrick Wayne	Bookser
Frank Aletter	Gerhart
Tige Andrews	Wiley
Martin Milner	Shore Patrol Ensign

Background

Fonda was not the original choice to star in the film version; Warner Bros. was considering William Holden or Marlon Brando for the lead role. The studio thought Fonda had been on stage and off the screen so long (8 years) that he was no longer a movie box office draw. In addition, when filming began he was 49, much older than the average lieutenant junior grade. Fonda was only hired because director John Ford insisted.

Also featured were James Cagney as Captain Morton, William Powell (in his last feature film) as "Doc", Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver (the role for which he won his first Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor), Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey, Jr. and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Joshua Logan and Frank S. Nugent.

The movie was directed by John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy and Joshua Logan (uncredited). While directing the film, Ford had personality conflicts with actors Henry Fonda and James Cagney.^[3] When Ford met Cagney at the airport, the director warned that they would "tangle asses," which caught Cagney by surprise. Cagney later said: "I would have kicked his brains out. He was so goddamned mean to everybody. He was truly a nasty old man."^[4] The next day, Cagney was slightly late on set, and Ford became incensed. Cagney cut short the imminent tirade, saying: "When I started this picture, you said that we would tangle asses before this was over. I'm ready now – are you?" Ford backed down and walked away and he and Cagney had no further conflicts on the set.^[4]

Nevertheless, Ford was replaced by LeRoy after difficulties with Fonda (Ford apparently punched Fonda in the jaw during a heated argument), and a gall bladder attack that necessitated emergency surgery. It has been widely speculated which scenes were directed by LeRoy. Jack Lemmon shed some light on this issue in his DVD commentary: "Mervyn LeRoy would watch all of the rushes that Ford had shot prior to his temporary departure and decided to shoot them the way John Ford would have shot 'em." Logan, who had directed the original stage production in which Fonda starred, re-shot major portions of the film, at Fonda's request.

The DVD release of this film includes an audio commentary of Jack Lemmon years before he died. In the commentary, he recounts some stories of his experience making the film and his views on acting. During the production of the film, Lemmon started a long-time friendship with Cagney which lasted until Cagney's death in 1986. Prior to his appearance in his first film, years before Mister Roberts, he started in live television. In one particular performance, Lemmon decided to play his character differently. He decided to play the character left-handed, which is opposite to his own way of movement. With much practice, he pulled off the performance without anyone noticing the change. This change even fooled Lemmon's wife at the time. A few years went by and Jack met Cagney on their way to Midway Island to film Mister Roberts. They introduced themselves, and Cagney chimed in, "Are you still fooling people into believing you're left handed?" They had a great laugh and a strong friendship was born. As Lemmon noted, this was an example of Cagney's ability to observe human behavior for his acting.

Henry Fonda wrote in his 1982 autobiography, My Life, that he believed that as good as the movie is, the play is even better. The film was William Powell's last movie, although he died decades later in 1984. It was also James Cagney's last movie for Warner Brothers, the studio that had propelled him to stardom 25 years before and the studio to which he had spent the majority of his career under contract.

The Vessel

The Navy vessel that played the role of USS Reluctant ("the Bucket") in the movie's exterior shots was the USS Hewell (AG-145)^[5]. The official Navy history for the ship^[6] notes:

In late August 1954 Hewell departed Hawaii for Midway Island, mooring at the Naval Base there on 28 August to help film the Warner Brothers movie Mister Roberts. The film, starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon, was partially shot on board Hewell, with underway footage filmed off Midway harbor between 1-16 September. The light cargo ship then sailed back to Hawaii between 24-29 September and additional film was shot off Kaneohe Bay between 30 September and 7 October.

An informal article, written in 1994 long after the movie had gained fame, appeared in a station paper of the Keyport, Washington Naval Undersea Warfare Center naming IX-308^[7], another ship of the Army FS type converted as a Navy AKL assigned torpedo recovery duties at Keyport, apparently started the myth^[8] that this ship, not Hewell, was used in the movie. That ship had been named USNS New Bedford^[9] for its service out of that port serving the USAF Texas Towers^[10].

All but one^[11] of the Navy's AKLs were built as U.S. Army FS type cargo vessels, some of which were transferred to the Navy after WWII ended.^[12] As it was, an AKL carried a much smaller crew than the USS Virgo (AKA-20) and USS Rotanin (AK-108), both of which Thomas Heggen served on during the war.^[13] In the movie, Mr. Roberts says to Doc that there are "65 men" aboard which would have been far too many for an AKL.

A number of modifications to the AKL exterior appearance were made for the film. The "palm tree" was located on a "deck" built for the movie by extending the small deckhouse of the AKL and building movie set ladders to the bridge and main deck.^[14] The crew, when going below to their berthing compartment, are shown in the movie to be descending into the cargo hold.

Television and sequels

The film was the basis of a 1965 television series of the same name, and was remade for television in 1984 as a live telecast.

Mister Roberts was followed by a film sequel, Ensign Pulver (1964), with Robert Walker, Jr. taking over the Lemmon role. It also starred Burl Ives as Captain Morton, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, and Jack Nicholson. Much of the screenplay was derived from Heggen's original book.

Bibliography

• Warren, Doug; Cagney, James (1986) [1983]. Cagney: The Authorized Biography (Mass Market ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-90207-7. 

References

1. ^ Behind the Scenes of Mister Roberts 1955
2. ^ "The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/28th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-08-21. 
3. ^ Warren, Doug; Cagney, James (1986) [1983]. Cagney: The Authorized Biography (Mass Market ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-90207-7. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Warren, page 191
5. ^ Levy, Bill (1998). John Ford: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-313-27514-9. 
6. ^ Navy History & Heritage Command-Ships History Branch. "Hewell". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS). http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h6/hewell.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
7. ^ Sea Bird Adventure. "USNS New Bedford the Mister Roberts Ship". Sea Bird Adventure. http://www.seabirdadventure.com/history/usns-new-bedford-the-mister-roberts-ship. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
8. ^ Ramon Jackson. "Not the USS Hewell (AKL 14) in the movie? Think again.". Army FP/FS Vessels. http://patriot.net/~eastlnd2/rj/fs/fs.htm#Hewell. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
9. ^ Gary P. Priolo. "Light Cargo Ship (AKL-17)". NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/14/1417.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
10. ^ National Air Defense Radar Museum. "The Texas Towers". http://radomes.pandapawuniverse.com/C_TexasTowers.php. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
11. ^ Gary P. Priolo. "Light Cargo Ship (AKL-17)". NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/14/1417.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
12. ^ Ramon Jackson (27 November 2007). "Army FP/FS Vessels". Ships and Places. http://adams.patriot.net/~eastlnd2/rj/fs/fs.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-14. 
13. ^ Hugh M. Heckman (January 1979). "The Story and Memories of the USS VIRGO AKA-20 / AE-30, USS Virgo and Mr. Roberts". Sea Classics (Challenge Publications, Inc.). http://www.uss-virgo.com/wacky.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
14. ^ Capt. Carl Friberg. "A Movie Seastory That Bugged Me (Detailed look at how an AKL was temporarily modified and turned into a movie set)". Views From the Upper Deck. http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~slowbell/trough27.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 

External links

• Mister Roberts (1955 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Mister Roberts (1955 film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Mister Roberts (1955 film) at AllRovi
• Gary P. Priolo (24 January 2008). "Light Cargo Ship (AKL): AG-145 / AKL-14 Hewell". NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/49/49145.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
• Capt. Carl Friberg. "A Movie Seastory That Bugged Me (Detailed look at how an AKL was temporarily modified and turned into a movie set)". Views From the Upper Deck. http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~slowbell/trough27.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16.